Andhra Pradesh ranked 1st in country for overall implementation of Poshan Abhiyan.

Government is implementing Poshan Abhiyanearlier known as National Nutrition Mission, since 18th December, 2017 to address the problem of malnutrition in the country. The Abhiyan aims to reduce malnutrition in the country in a
phased manner, through a life cycle approach, by adopting a synergized and result oriented approach. The goals of Poshan Abhiyan are to achieve improvement in Nutritioinal status of children from 0-6 years, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers in a time bound manner.

State of Andhra Pradesh ranked 1st in the country for overall implementation of Poshan Abhiyan as per the recent report shared by NITI Aayog. As part of the programme the State has trained all Angan Wadi Workers on modules
created based on lifecycle approach, i.e first 1000 days of life, with the support of incremental learning Approach (ILA).

The State Government has given smart phones to all 55,607 angan wadi workers to improve service delivery and for reporting day to day actions, as well as to council the targeted beneficiaries through video embedded in
application.

Tamil Nadu tops the list of the states in terms of the number of participants in the Poshan Abhiyan programme. The Integrated Child Development Scheme has been in force for long in the southern state that has got rejuvenated with the Centre’s Poshan Abhiyaan mission. The programme is revitalizing India by reaching out to the children and mothers across the nation.

Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Krishan Pal Gurjar on March 09, 2020 said that the government will provide an online platform for the Divyang artisans to sell their products. Mr Gurjar said this while addressing
the closing ceremony of the week long Exhibition-cum-Fair “EKAM Fest” in New Delhi. He said, EKAM Fest is an effort for promoting entrepreneurship and knowledge among Divyangjan community as well as providing
marketing opportunities.

A total of 195 Fast Track Special Courts have been set up across the country for expeditious trial and disposal of pending cases related to rape and Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences, POCSO Act 2012.

The Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship launched the Mahatma Gandhi National Fellowship programme in the Indian Institute of Management in Bengaluru.
The Fellowship is launched as part of the SANKALP programme of the ministry to provide skilled manpower for District Skill Committees to prepare the District Skill Development plan.

Under the pilot project, IIMB will train 75 graduates for two years in preparing the District skill plan considering the skill gaps, market utilities, government schemes and institutions available in the district.
Graduates from 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Meghalaya are chosen for the training.

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has said that Sanitary napkin makers will be asked to supply a biodegradable bag with each napkin from January 2021.
The possibility of getting infected because of handling used Sanitary Napkins thrown in the garbage was brought to notice by many of the women garbage collectors.
That’s why Environment Ministry has taken the decision to ask Makers of Sanitary Napkins to provide biodegradable bags so that Napkins can be wrapped in these bags before being thrown in the garbage.

Persons :

Former law minister Hansraj Bhardwaj passed away on March 8, 2020.

Awards :

President Ram Nath Kovind conferred Nari Shakti Puraskar 2019 to 15 eminent women on the occasion of International Women’s Day at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on March 8, 2020. The award aims to recognize their outstanding contribution towards the emancipation of women, especially marginalized women.

The winners of the Nari Shakti Puraskar 2019 belong to diverse fields including sports, education, agriculture, handicrafts, armed forces, wildlife conservation and afforestation. They have been recognized for showing exemplary courage and safeguarding women’s rights, especially the rights of most vulnerable and marginalized women.

S. No

Name

Category

State

1

Padala Bhudevi

Individual

Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh

2

Bina Devi

Individual

Munger , Bihar

3

Arifa Jan

Individual

Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir

4

Chami Murmu

Individual

Rajnagar,Saraikela Kharsawan, Jharkhand

5

Nilza Wangmo

Individual

Leh ,Ladakh

6

Rashmi Urdhwareshe

Individual

Pune, Maharashtra

7

Sardarni Mann Kaur

Individual

Patiala, Punjab

8

Kalavati Devi

Individual

Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

9

Tashi and Nungshi Malik

Individual

Dehradun, Uttarakhand

10

Kaushiki Chakroborty

Individual

Kolkata, West Bengal

11

Bhageerathi Amma

Karthyayini Amma

Individual

Kollam, Alappuzha, Kerala

12

Avani Chaturvedi

Bhawna Kanth

Mohana Singh

Individual

Rewa, Madhya Pradesh

Darbhanga, Bihar

Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Science & Technology :

Scientists at International Advanced Research for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, an autonomous R&D Centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST) have developed Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cells (PEMFC).

PEMFC, in its entireness, have an advantage of operational capability at low-temperatures with applications in decentralised power generation systems. Through intense R&D efforts in the area of fuel cell technologies, ARCI at its Centre for Fuel Cell Technology, Chennai has developed in-house PEMFC systems in the power range of 1 to 20 kiloWatt (kW) and demonstrated the same in stationary (1-20 kW) and transport applications (1,3,5 kW).

Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) backed with 10 kW system along with fuel cell stack (providing sustainable electricity using hydrogen gas without the need of grid power), air moving sub systems, power control devices and control and monitoring system is being planned as a natural disaster management measure.

ARCI is now planning to set up a PEMFC system up to 10 kW capacity at Tamil Nadu State Emergency Operation Centre (TN SEOC) to operate the systems like early warning systems, VHF set, IP phone, BSNL Ethernet and office equipment like scanner, computers, printers, phone, FAX and normal requirements like lighting and fan.